3 January 2025

Prof Prokar Dasgupta says he is considering a new career in comedy after a star turn in BBC2 hit Cunk on Life.

The King’s Health Partners Professor of Surgery featured among an array of experts in the latest special from Philomena Cunk, played by the comedy actor Diane Morgan.

In the mockumentary, which aired at 9pm on Monday 30 December and is available to watch on iPlayer, Cunk has the ambitious aim to discover the meaning of human existence.

Prof Dasgupta, Chair of Robotic Surgery and Urological Innovation at King’s College London, features alongside experts including Prof Brian Cox and Prof Jim Al-Khalili.

Before appearing on the show, Prof Dasgupta says he prepared by watching previous Philomena Cunk programmes, such as the time she interviewed Robert Peston. He added:

I realised that most experts eventually cannot control their laughter. Rather surprisingly, I found that I had the opposite effect and Cunk burst out into giggles rather than me.

The producer told me later that this has not happened before. Perhaps it is time for me to stop being a robotic surgeon and start a new career as a stand-up comic!

Unfortunately her laughing fit was cut from the aired programme, but Prof Dasgupta says it happened during a discussion about eyes and their nerve connections to other parts of the body. A snippet of the conversation can be seen in the closing credits.

Other queries he had to field from Cunk included, ‘what percentage of people have a human body?’ and, ‘did you know only 40% of people have skeletons?’.

Prof Dasgupta admirably played along. In fact, The Guardian’s review of the programme singled out the surgeon, saying ‘respect is due’.

Overall, he said filming the programme was a ‘great experience’. He added:

I have been filmed many times before for various news and media channels but this was different. Diane Morgan had her script but I did not have one, so my answers were impromptu.

I had been briefed about her haplessness and sometimes she came up with the most impossible questions with a straight face. I was expecting her to mention ‘her friend’ as she usually does so I was ready for it. Her dog kept getting in and out during filming which added a natural sense of calmness and ease.

Cunk on Life is on the BBC iPlayer in the UK and available to watch worldwide on Netflix.

To learn more about King’s Health Partners Academic Surgery, visit the webpage here.